With some 60 individual machining stations, the engineering processes undertaken by one of the world's leading specialist manufacturers of aircraft landing gear are highly intensive. The Nottingham premises of APPH, part of the BBA Aviation Group, is dedicated to the production of a wide range of hydraulic systems used in this sector of the industry and has now taken steps to enhance its machining waste water disposal procedures through the installation of a single processing unit from Aqua-Save Technologies. The move has not only improved the organisation's environmental performance, but will also help reduce waste disposal costs.
The development, which features an Aqua-Save Junior with a built-in pre-heat facility, is centred on the processing of waste coolant collected from each individual machining installation. The facility separates the material via a process of evaporation into water that can either be recycled or safely disposed to drain, with only a fraction of the volume - typically some 5% - then requiring off-site disposal. Geoff Brown is APPH's Maintenance Engineer and outlines the procedure used -
"Collection of waste coolant from the machining installations has always been centred on waste being pumped into 1000 litre IBC containers until we had approximately 8000 litres," he comments. "Before we installed the Aqua-Save system, we would then have this collected by a waste disposal company every six weeks at a total cost of some £5,000 annually.
"This has now been dramatically reduced to perhaps one 8000 litre disposal per year as the vast majority of waste collected is now converted by the Aqua-Save installation into either water for new coolant or water that can be used for other applications such as floor cleaning operations," he adds.
Geoff Brown points out that not only does this promise a rapid payback on the investment - with ongoing cost benefits for the organisation thereafter - but has also helped to maintain the high levels of environmental commitment of which the APPH Group is justifiably proud.
"This is an excellent demonstration of the Aqua-Save Junior operating in a specialist manufacturing environment," comments Paul Jarratt, Sales Manager of the Aqua-Save Technologies Division of MecWash Systems Ltd. "APPH produce's equipment and components in a range of materials including aluminium and titanium alloys as well as stainless steel, some of which can be up to six feet in length, and each item passes through a series of machining stations. The use of coolant and machine oil is substantial and eliminating the bulk of the waste disposal brings great financial and environmental benefits.
"We are delighted that the installation highlights the capability of the system and, moreover, that it demonstrates the extent of the benefits that can be enjoyed by just a single Aqua-Save Junior facility," he concludes.
Image caption: The Aqua-Save Junior from Aqua-Save Technologies processes waste coolant from a range of machining stations at the Nottingham premises of APPH.